Cell sorting technology is increasingly important to research in the biomedical field, including basic developmental biology, cancer biology, microbiology and regenerative medicine. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, including the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, are pursuing research projects that require multiparameter flow sorting capabilities. This technology is becoming particularly critical to the productivity of many ongoing NIH-funded research projects at these institutions. The demand for sorting currently exceeds the capacity of available instruments. This project requests the purchase of an instrument that will advance existing technology, decrease operating costs and replace an outdated sorter. The addition of a Becton Dickinson FACSAria II that is dedicated to sorting non-human cells will facilitate the research programs of many scientists on campus at the University of Pennsylvania. The 16 major users in this proposal have a wide variety of NIH-funded research projects that will benefit from the purchase of this instrument. Strong institutional support, technical expertise and a management plan are in place to assure the efficient utilization of this resource. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: There have been major improvements in the ability of instruments to isolate live single cells that can be used for biomedical research. This project supports the purchase of an instrument that is dedicated to isolate cells from a variety of animal cells that are being used to develop new therapies at the University of Pennsylvania.